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August 2008 Issue.

readme:

Well, here we are again, a mere month after the last issue. Such an unseemly rush. I may have to go lie down for a month or two. Just kidding, maybe.

Speaking of such things, as you may know, people who subscribe to TWD-by-Email receive these columns at the same time actual newspapers do, which is some time before they are posted to this website, “some time” around here usually meaning anywhere from two to six months. At the moment, however, due to a few lapses in my posting schedule, we are running about eight months behind, meaning that the columns in this issue were sent to subscribers back in November and December of 2007 (which explains the Christmas and Thanksgiving references you may notice in a few columns).

I have been posting more columns each month (18) than I write (12), so the gap will narrow eventually, but it will never vanish entirely. There will always be at least a two-month delay. So it behooves me to note that you can jump this tedious queue and read this stuff in real time by simply subscribing for a measly fifteen bucks per year. It’s a win-win deal — you get to read the columns right away, and I get to pay my gas bill and buy cat food. What’s not to like?

But wait, it gets better! As soon as you subscribe, you’ll receive your super-secret password to our restricted Subscriber Content right here on the website. What’s “Subscriber Content”? It’s the past eight months of columns that haven’t yet been posted to the free public part of this site! It’ll be like you actually subscribed eight months ago! It’ll also be like you’re getting a 20-month subscription for the price of a 12-month sub! Yay! Sign me up!

By the way, the price of TWD-by-Email hasn’t increased since Day One, which was back in 1995. If this site were a gas station, there would be lines around the block. So fill up now!

Lastly, I have started a “sideblog” (the link is over there in the right sidebar) where we can post links to interesting language-related stuff, so feel free to send me links.